Golf club cleaner

ABSTRACT

A housing provided with a power driven, rotating, tapered brush arranged within the housing, access to the brush from without the housing for the insertion of a golf club head to be cleaned being by an angularly disposed slot having on longitudinal edge parallel with the lateral surface of the brush and a blade adjacent the brush coacting with the rotation of the brush to prevent ejection of material through the slot.

United States Patent Brooks [54] GOLF CLUB CLEANER [72] Inventor: WilburG. Brooks, 3304 Salem Turnpike, N.W., Roanoke, Va. 24008 22] Filed: Feb.2, 1971 21] Appl. No.: 111,980

[52] US. Cl. ..l5/21 E [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 57/00 [58] Field ofSearch.15/21 D, 34, 97, 4, 210, 104.94,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,148,396 9/1964 Smith..l5/2l 1,662,498 3/1928 Gill et al ..15/36 [451 Dec. 5, 1972 Swords 15/21 D 3,284,828 11/1966 Jennings et a1. ..l5/21 D 3,332,099 7/1967Reiter ..l5/2l R 3,412,414 11/1968 Perkins ..l5/21 R PrimaryExaminer-Leon G. Machlin Attorney-John B. Sponsler [5 7 1 ABSTRACT Ahousing provided with a power driven, rotating, tapered brush arrangedwithin the housing, access to the brush from without the housing for theinsertion of a golf club head to be cleaned being by an angularlydisposed slot having on longitudinal edge parallel with the lateralsurface of the brush and a blade adjacent the brush coacting with therotation of the brush to prevent ejeqtion of'rnaterial through the slot.

2 A I 1 Claim, 1 Drawing Figure PATENTEDBEB 51972 I 3,704.475

WILBUR 5. BROOKS I I v INVENTOIIK GOLF cum CLEANER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The sophistication of recreational golf requires greater andgreater refinement not only in technique, but also in equipment. Sincethe use of golf clubs invariablycauses more or less of accumulation ofsoil upon the heads of the clubs, the necessity of removal of suchdeposits is essential to the proper and successful manipulation of theclubs. Inaddition, retention of such deposits for any prolonged periodmay result in permanent damage via corrosion to the carefully designedclub heads of modern golf equipment.

Cleaning golf club heads by hand is' tedious and generallyunsatisfactory either in the clubroom or on the golf course usingmechanical implements. Chemical cleaners similarly are undesirable inthat they not only present difficulties in applying, but also may resultin damage to the sensitive faces of many of the more modern designs ofclubs.

Power driven cleaning machines have been devised such as those shown inUS. Pat. Nos. 3,148,396 and 3,332,099; however these machines arecostly, require circulating fluids to perfect'the cleaning operation andthe consequent filtering of such fluids either automatically or byreplacement, and introduce intricate operating difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The FIG. 1 is apartial perspective drawing of the invention showing a housing, togetherwith an internally arranged tapered, power-driven brush, the housinghaving an opening for the insertion of a golf club to be cleaned.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the FIGURE a rectangular'housinghaving a top plate 11 encloses a tapered, rotary brush 12 which isrotated in a counter clockwise direction by a motor (not shown) in thebase of the housing. An angular slot 13 is cut in the top plate 11, thelongitudinal 2 edge 8-5 of the slot 13 being parallel with the lateralsurface t-t' of the brush 12. A blade 14 is positioned within thehousing cooperating with the brush 1 2 (rotating counter clockwise) toprevent materials and loose particles from being ejected upward throughthe slot 13. Spaced below the brush 12 is atray 15a (see out out portionof FIG. 1) arranged as a drawer within the housing 10 and having apullout 15b. The edges of the slot 13 may be lined with a rubber orplastic gasket, if desired. A container for ordinary tap. water may alsobe provided external of the housing, or attached to it (not shown).

In operation (with inserted with is head downwards through the slot 13,the face of the club bemg pressed manually against the brush 12 and thehandle of the club being rested against the edge of the slot 13, theedge of the slot acting as a guide to position the club face againstthat part of the brush 12 most nearly fitting the angular opening of theclub face. For example, a number 2 item would be positioned towardtheend of the tapered brush 12 having the greatest diameter whereas anumber 9 iron would be positioned toward the 'end of the brush 12 havingthe least diameter. If deemed advisable by the user, the head of theclub may be dippedinto tap water container prior to being insertedthrough the-slot 13. Encrusted soil, grass, etcetera on the club face isscoured from the club, the removed material being directed downwardinto'the tray 15a, the blade 14 preventing the material from beingejected upward through the slot 13 into the face of the user.

A second feature of the blade 14 is to prevent the user from insertingthe club against the direction of rotation of the brush 12 whereby theclub might be thrown out into the face of the user by the centrifugalforce imparted from the rotation of the brush. In other words, anyseizure of the club head by the brush 12 will cause the club to drawninto the housing where the club head will be thrown against the tray 15arather than ejected through the slot 13.

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A golf club cleaning device including a housing, an axis, arotatable, axially tapered brush in said housing, means for rotatingsaid brush about said axis, a slotted opening in said housing extendingsubstantially parallel to the axis and for substantially the axiallength of said brush and arranged at an angle with the axis of rotationof said brush, and an edge of said slotted opening being adapted toguiding a golf club to have its head cleaned along the varying peripheryof said brush at a position corresponding to the degree of angularity ofsaid head.

the'brush rotating) a golf club is

1. A golf club cleaning device including a housing, an axis, arotatable, axially tapered brush in said housing, means for rotatingsaid brush about said axis, a slotted opening in said housing extendingsubstantially parallel to the axis and for substantially the axiallength of said brush and arranged at an angle with the axis of rotationof said brush, and an edge of said slotted opening being adapted toguiding a golf club to have its head cleaned along the varying peripheryof said brush at a position corresponding to the degree of angularity ofsaid head.